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Ask Dr. Gourmet

Is olive oil appropriate for high-temperature uses?

My husband and I enjoy cooking together very much, and we
use olive oil almost exclusively for cooking, from stir-fry
to searing, except frying. Is it okay to use olive oil for searing since
the technique requires high temperature? Also, is it approriate for pan-fry?
Thanks for your help.

Dr. Gourmet Says...

I love to cook with olive oil but use it for lower heat cooking.

Oils will begin to burn and thus smoke at a certain temperature.
This is different for every oil. It is partly due to the
composition
of the oil but is also the result of impurities in the oil.
An extra
virgin olive oil that has a great fruit flavor will generally
have
more impurities that will lower the "smoke point" of the oil.

My favorite oil for higher heat cooking is grapeseed oil. The oil
itself has a higher smoke point than olive oil and if you
look for
grapeseed oil that is not labeled "extra virgin" it will likely
have
fewer impurities.

It also a higher amount of mono-unsaturated fats than many oils with
a low amount of trans-fatty acids and, consequently, it may
actually
help prevent heart disease. In research published in the
Journal of
Arteriosclerosis there was a remarkably beneficial effect
of
grapeseed oil on HDL (good) cholesterol. It appears that
one ounce
per day is enough, with the research showing a 13 to 14 percent
increase in HDL cholesterol.

In another study published in the Journal of the American College of
Cardiology, fifty-six participants with low HDL levels substituted
up
to 1.5 ounces of grapeseed oil for the oil they used in recipes.
At
the end of the study, the subjects showed no significant
change in
weight or total cholesterol, but the ratio of LDL to HDL
had changed
with a 7% reduction in LDL and a 13% increase in HDL levels.